design/69095-x-repo-continuous-go.md: add design
For golang/go#69095.
Change-Id: I6aa58154739456432b60ea332d324c5b7b048612
Reviewed-on: https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/proposal/+/608955
Reviewed-by: Dmitri Shuralyov <dmitshur@golang.org>
Auto-Submit: Dmitri Shuralyov <dmitshur@golang.org>
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+# Proposal: all, x/build/cmd/relui: automate go directive maintenance in golang.org/x repositories
+
+Author(s): Dmitri Shuralyov
+Thanks to: Russ Cox, Michael Pratt, Robert Findley, Hana Kim, Cody Oss, Tim King, Carlos Amedee, and others for input
+
+Last updated: 2024-08-27
+
+Discussion at https://go.dev/issue/69095.
+
+## Abstract
+
+The value of the `go` directive in golang.org/x repositories
+is automatically maintained
+to be at least 1.(N-1).0,
+where Go 1.N is the most recent major Go release,
+and Go 1.(N-1) is the previous major Go release.
+
+## Background
+
+In the beginning, there was the GOPATH mode and versions of dependencies
+of golang.org/x repositories weren't explicitly tracked.
+Go 1.11 introduced the module mode, and over time it became the default mode.
+All golang.org/x repositories had an initial go.mod file checked in, and
+that file was maintained manually.
+This meant that a bug fix or a new feature in one golang.org/x repository
+didn't benefit another golang.org/x repository until someone chose to manually
+update that dependency.
+It also meant that eventual updates sometimes jumped many versions at once
+to catch up.
+This was resolved in 2022, when an automated monthly relui workflow began to
+create tags and update golang.org/x dependencies across all golang.org/x
+repositories ([issue 48523](https://go.dev/issue/48523)).
+
+At this point there are upwards of 35 [golang.org/x](https://golang.org/x)
+repositories.
+Owners of each repository update the "go" directive manually, ad-hoc,
+so golang.org/x repositories may receive different levels of "go" directive
+maintenance.
+For example, owners of the golang.org/x/mod module wished to use the
+new-to-Go-1.22 `go/version` package as soon as Go 1.23 came out, and
+so its "go" directive was recently updated to "1.22.0".
+On the other hand, golang.org/x/image hasn't been updated in a while, and
+its "go" directive is currently still at "1.18",
+which itself was an upgrade from "1.12" in [CL 526895](https://go.dev/cl/526895)
+as part of bringing all golang.org/x repos to use at minimum Go 1.18 language
+version ([issue 60268](https://go.dev/issue/48523)).
+
+Leaving go directive maintenance to be done entirely manually creates the
+possibility of some repositories staying on an older Go language version longer.
+When there's enough of a need to finally upgrade it to a recent Go language
+version, this requires a change across multiple major Go releases at once,
+which can be harder to review.
+Having continuous, smaller incremental upgrades requires creating many CLs for
+all of golang.org/x repositories every 6 months, which is toilsome if always
+done manually.
+
+## Proposal
+
+I propose that each time that a new major Go release 1.N.0 is made,
+the `go` directive in all golang.org/x repos will be upgraded to `go 1.(N-1).0`.
+For example,
+when Go 1.28.0 is released,
+golang.org/x modules would have their `go` directive set to `go 1.27.0`.
+
+This would be done automatically as part of a relui release workflow,
+which will generate CLs by running the following sequence at the module root
+of applicable repositories:
+
+```
+go get go@1.(N-1).0
+go mod tidy
+go fix ./...
+```
+
+Using the go command at version `go1.N.0`.
+
+Modules whose `go` directive at the time is already a higher version will be
+skipped rather than downgraded.
+
+If a `toolchain` directive is present and higher than the new go directive,
+it will be kept as is.
+(The go command does this automatically while updating the go line.)
+If a `toolchain` directive isn't present,
+these automated CLs will not try to introduce it.
+
+The first two commands in the sequence leave the module in a tidy state.
+The `go fix ./...` command will apply high-confidence automated changes,
+in case any begin to apply with the updated Go language version.
+For example, go fix began to remove the now-obsolete
+[`// +build` lines](https://go.dev/doc/go1.18#go-build-lines) once a module
+is upgraded to 1.18 or later.
+For many new language versions this will be a no-op, but it is expected
+that including a `go fix ./...` invocation will be a net positive.
+We can decide to stop including it in the generated CLs based on experience.
+
+If a `go.work` file is checked in (rare case), then `go work sync` will also
+be run to sync the workspace's build list back to the workspace's modules.
+
+## Rationale
+
+### Why 1.(N-1).0?
+
+N-1 is chosen to align with the
+[Go release policy](https://go.dev/doc/devel/release#policy).
+The Go release policy states that a given major Go release is supported
+until there are two newer major releases.
+
+Picking N-1 makes this a no-op for golang.org/x module users who are using
+a supported Go release. If a user is using a pre-release version of the
+previous (also supported) major Go release, they'll be upgraded to
+the stable major release (e.g., `go1.22rc1` to `go1.22.0`).
+For golang.org/x module authors, raising the go directive from a lower value
+to N-1 enables taking advantage of newer language features and fixes potentially
+sooner than if no one got to updating the module's language version manually.
+
+### Why not 1.(N-0).0?
+
+N-0 would get in the way of one's ability to use the latest versions of
+golang.org/x modules with all supported Go releases.
+It would be possible to use the latest major Go release,
+but not the previous (still supported) major Go release,
+at least not without triggering a toolchain upgrade to a newer major Go release.
+The Go release policy states we support both releases equally,
+and issue bug fixes and security fixes to both,
+so this proposal preserves that equality.
+
+### Why not N-2 (or N-3, or N-4, and so on)?
+
+Using older versions gives the impression that those releases
+are still supported,
+but they are not.
+
+### Why not bump on each minor release?
+
+Another option would be to always use the latest 1.(N-1).X,
+updating all the x repos each time a new minor Go release comes out.
+That forces everyone to update to that new minor release
+in order to incorporate any new x repo changes,
+which seems too aggressive.
+As much as we try to avoid it, minor Go releases do sometimes contain bugs,
+and it should be possible to choose to use older ones if needed.
+
+### Why not bump the toolchain lines too?
+
+The `toolchain` line can only be set to a toolchain the same or newer than
+the `go` line, and it only affects people working in the repo itself.
+That is, it does not affect users of the x repos.
+Therefore it is not as important.
+Just as we want to allow users to use the x repos with any supported Go version,
+we want to allow users to work in the x repos with any supported Go version, so
+leaving the toolchain lines implied by the go line seems like the right choice.
+
+### Future work
+
+There are aspects of this work that have been considered but chosen to be left
+out of scope for the initial version.
+We may want to refine some of the smaller details down the road,
+especially once there's more experience with the proposed mechanism.
+
+#### Nested modules
+
+Nested modules are not in scope of the current tagging,
+and not in scope of the initial go directive maintenance either.
+There are fewer of them, and they often have custom constraints
+or release processes.
+They can be left to be managed by their corresponding repo owners for now.
+This can be revisited in the future, when it's more worthwhile.
+
+## Compatibility
+
+This proposal takes the [Go 1 Compatibility Promise](https://go.dev/doc/go1compat)
+and the [Go Release Policy](https://go.dev/doc/devel/release#policy) into account,
+and does not introduce compatibility problems.
+
+## Implementation
+
+This will be implemented as part of [relui](https://golang.org/x/build/cmd/relui),
+a service already responsible for Go release automation and
+monthly golang.org/x repository tagging.
